1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for collision avoidance, and more particularly to a method and system for aircraft collision avoidance, which ensures the pilot be provided with situational awareness and enhances the safety of flight. The present invention is made with Government support under contract No. F04611-00-C-0044 and Contract No. F04611-01-C-0046 awarded by the US Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, Calif. 93524. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
2. Description of Related Arts
Many aircrafts operate in the same airspace, such as the specially designated airspace, and perform formation and highly dynamic maneuvers. The pilots have routinely identified a midair collision between military aircraft in the same airspace as the most likely cause of their next mishap. Currently, collision avoidance is based on xe2x80x9csee-and-avoid,xe2x80x9d SPORT/Joshua traffic advisories, or onboard aircraft sensors. Even using all of these aids to avoid collisions, pilots routinely experience what they perceive as close misses with other aircraft. There exists an absolute necessity for a collision avoidance system that provides collision alerts to pilot.
The main objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for aircraft collision avoidance which provides situational awareness to the pilot and enhances the safety of flight.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for aircraft collision avoidance, wherein each aircraft carries a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver coupled with a self-contained miniature IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) for uninterrupted position information determination and such position information is shared with other aircraft over an RF (Radio Frequency) data link.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for aircraft collision avoidance, which provides an intelligent display to show the relative positions of the aircraft in the immediate vicinity of the host aircraft and issues voice and flashing warnings if a collision hazard exists
In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a collision avoidance system to be carried in a host aircraft, which comprises:
an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), including a miniature MEMS IMU, for providing inertial motion measurements;
a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, including a miniature GPS receiver, for providing GPS positioning measurements;
a data link receiver/transmitter, for exchanging position data between the host aircraft and another participating aircraft;
a central processing unit, for receiving the inertial motion measurements from the IMU, GPS positioning measurements from the GPS receiver, and other aircraft position information from the data link receiver/transmitter to produce different levels of warning information for the collision; and
an interface and display unit, for presenting different levels of warning information for the collision avoidance to a pilot of the host aircraft.